I am sitting at the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivagi airport. Although still fresh in the morning, the air around the place I am sitting is filled with stress. Yes, stress.
Around me are half a dozen gentlemen, all wearing expensive suits and watches. All of them have a tablet (laptops are so old fashioned). Their luggage strolleys look brand new (as if they purchase one every time they travel).
I walked up to the newspaper stand nearby. There’s The Times of India, some local newspaper and one section which doesn’t have anything. I suppose it had The Economic Times, which all these gentlemen around me have taken up and swallowed. Yes, I can see two of them hiding behind The Economic Times. I think they are competing against each other to grasp everything so that they can stay ‘ahead of the curve’. The other gentlemen are doing something on their tablets, but I don’t think they are focusing enough. They seem to be switching between applications which one usually does. Two of them have also purchased ‘Business Books’. I can see some edition of the Harward Business Review with one of them. Can’t figure out the other one. But there’s an image of a man well dressed like them and pointing his finger somewhere. I think he must be some ‘Leadership Guru’. Ah another friend walks up and takes the last available seat around. And he is carrying the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ book. But no one seems to be reading those books. Once in a while they flip some pages and move on to their tablets. Do they have scanners in their heads? I don’t know.
But they all look very stressed. Now you know whyI said the air is filled with stress. I don’t want to sit here. I decide to find another place. I can see two seats lying vacant. There are some kids sitting around. And they are reading some comics. One of them is playing a game on the PSP. Yes, I want to sit here. A 3-4 year old is reading an illustrated story book. These kids look so happy. I decide to sit down and write this post.
Let me stop here. I want take my Kindle out and continue on the Hardy Boys Mystery. Before I sign off, I just hope that 20 years down the line, these kids are not stressed like those gentlemen. I just hope so!
The Amazing Hong Kong Skyline
I recently traveled to Hong Kong with my wife and intended to write something ASAP. Thanks to the piled-up work, I finally get an opportunity to post something. Hong Kong is just amazing! It is one of those places where you can experience everything. A great modern city, mountains, beaches, the up markets and the street shopping for the bargain hunters. Great food (well only if you are a non-vegetarian unlike me!). Theme parks, fishing villages, exciting hiking trails, high-speed ferry rides, the open top bus rides…..the list goes on!
We just had 6 days with us, so we could only cover the major attractions – The Peak, the Victoria Harbor, the unique light and sound show- ‘The Symphony of lights’, the Lantau Islands, the Ocean Park, TST, Avenue of Stars. 3 long nights of street shopping. And a day trip to Macau, of course.
The strangest thing I noticed there was the fact that a random average person you speak to, will most likely not understand English! I know it is China. But it is strange because the British have been there for over hundred years and Hong Kong has been handed over to China just a decade ago. And the fact that it is still a Special Administrative Region (SAR) which enjoys being one of Asia’s prominent business centers. And that it is a tourist place. Why is this then? And then you travel to Macau. The situation is even worse.
The other strange thing was that a few tourists requested to click photographs with us!!!!! I suspect they were from mainland China and were tourists like us. But come-on. I thought Indians were everywhere……..they why were we so special? Whatever the reason was, I wouldn’t complain on this one 
. It made us feel special.
It was a great experience overall. While we were leaving, Hong Kong felt so familiar. Travels through the MTR, the TST area. We thought we could guide anyone, anywhere! There’s a lot much to do than we could cover. But there’s definitely, the next time!
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